Lost Property Office

7Mar 12

Welcome to the new FreakyTrigger podcast (in association with SOAS Radio), a whimsical trip through the lost and found of life. We’ve been thinking of various audio projects for a while since Lollards and Slug Of Time finished, and before anything grand turns up, here is this little flibbertygibbet of a weekly podcast. Your host Pete Baran (that’s me, talking about myself Alan Shearer like in the third person) drags his guests through the cavernous lost property office in SOAS where they discover surprising books, music and items whilst discussing things they have lost along the way.

In the first edition, Hazel Robinson and Magnus Anderson are the first brave guests, testing out the dumb questions, invading the privacy of lost items and finding out how much you can learn from someone from their make-up bag? Live music from Magnus, Young Adult Horror, the Politics of Space and Ballbuster! The photo shows the items discovered, and please use the comments if you recognise anything, if its your make-up bag or you recognise any of the music.

14Mar 12

Welcome to week two of the new FreakyTrigger podcast (in association with SOAS Radio), the Lost Property Office. This week my guest is Sarah Clarke who did not get her hands too dirty in her rummage through the office, alighting on three items and a CD which belied its origin considerably. In this weeks show we talk about missing monkey T-Shirts (more people lose clothes than I would imagine), young persons phones, pencils, the difference between Central and East Asia, the word “Flip” gets said A LOT (but its not rude so that’s OK) and the state of world records in 1980 whilst Norris McWhirter (but not Ross) was still compiling the Guinness Book Of Records.

Apologies to listeners for
a) getting the manner of Ross McWhirter’s death wrong. He was, of course, shot by the IRA
b) Comparing the Guinness Book Of Records, no matter how obliquely, to Mein Kampf.

As ever if you recognise any of the music, or own any of the items in this weeks Lost Property office and want to be reunited, feel free to drop us a line in the comments (click more for the comments).

21Mar 12

Week three of the new FreakyTrigger podcast (in association with SOAS Radio), the Lost Property Office. This week my guest is Pamela Hutchinson of Silent London London’s premiere Silent Film website. Pam dived into the pile of lost property and dragged up an object, a book and a CD which whose scrawled cover lied to us significantly. In this weeks show we consider the plot to Home Alone 3: Lost In Birkenhead, Stuart Murdoch: International Jewel Thief, Maureen Lipman’s Travel Tips and are surprised by just how easy Gaelic is as a language. We unsurprisingly talk a little on silent film, and I fear I may accidentally insult Pam’s husband and mother. But not her second cousin, who we all agree is rather cool (as are her husband and mother) Ahem!

This weeks right-wing namecheck is a shout-out to SOAS Alumni Enoch Powell, who loved to holiday in France whilst penning inflammatory speeches no doubt.

As ever if you recognise any of the music, or own any of the items in this weeks Lost Property office and want to be reunited, feel free to drop us a line in the comments (click more for the comments). And general comments are always welcome, if you have lost anything let us know!

28Mar 12

And we are back in the Lost Property Office, this week with the fearless Kat Stevens who is the first of our guests to shun the sometimes predictable CD route to music, and instead pick a USB stick. And what a USB stick it is too, look at the photo for crimes against promotional USB’s! In today’s episode we talk long and hard about Prague, Private Eye, The Lost City Of Atlantis and how cool it must have been. Kat reveals her superpower, thus destroying her secret identity once and for all. We hear about Japanese Ninja Number One, Japanese Geisha Number One and I briefly fantasise about presenting the Radio One Rock Show, without really knowing if such a thing even exists any more.

As ever, if you recognise any of the music, or the items, please let us know in the comments, and keep losing stuff losers, because without your losses, there would be no show.

4Apr 12

The most significant thing lost in this weeks Lost Property Office could well be my voice! Luckily I have an excellent guest in the form of Rock Star, Playwright, Validator and Edinburgh Smash MJ Hibbett, who does allow this episode to drift slowly into Grumpy Old Men territory when we discuss “Whatever happened to Bath Moles?” Also on the agenda, comics, the Boo Radleys “Lazarus”, The Famous Five and the lack of statuary in the Fens. And a piece of apposite music by the star himself, accompanied by a CD that exists to cheer someone up. You can decide if it does!

As ever, if you recognise any of the music, or the items, please let us know in the comments, and keep losing stuff losers, because without your losses, there would be no show. And if you are interested in guesting, feel free to say so in the comments below, the more interesting losers there are, the better the show is. So MJ Hibbett!

11Apr 12

This weeks Lost Property Office takes on a decidedly theatrical flavour as I invite Kerry Lambeth to do battle with the assorted umbrellas and notebooks. And in the course of our discussion we consider a Brighton Beach Memoir (Sussex not Long Island), how many copies of the Complete Works Of Shakespeare one needs, the perfect size for a woman to be to get her dream job, and the value of comedy. Music comes from the big folder of lost CD’s again, and this week even comes with a CD insert, so the connection between Kerry picking music from Kerry (and Donegal) can be made most explicit.

There is also a slightly uncomfortable moment near the end of the podcast where, undoubtedly not for the first time, Aristole and Aristophanes are mixed up and its never quite admitted to us. Well we have recorded proof of our own slip up, and it is one that I daresay Aristophanes would have appreciated for its comedic value.

As ever if you recognise any of the stuff or have anything to say, please feel free to hit the comments and claim your missing stuff.

18Apr 12

There is a rule wherein every newspaper columnist is allowed one “Get Out Of Jail Free” card, where they can write a column about the process of writing a column. It is fantastically self serving, self indulgent, and an easy well to go to if inspiration dries up. Well in the case of podcasts there is a analogous situation, which I explore in this weeks podcast which truly shows the danger of letting me loose on a microphone without a safety net. This weeks music comes from a lost SD card, and is probably Brazilian, and on the show today’s Lost Propertier finds some food, a little bit about human anatomy pre-1940 and talks at great length about a scary trailer park in York. Dogs are discussed, as are flip-flops, the great lost cash card scams of the 1990′s and there is a moment reflection when I realise I may never, ever go into space.

Its a very special show this one so make sure you don’t miss it (or at least listen to the first three minutes to decide if you want to miss it). If you recognise the music, or want to enter the competition (YOU CAN WIN SOMETHING WITH THIS PODCAST) either e-mail pb14@soas.ac.uk, or put you details in the comments. We’d love to hear from you as ever.

25Apr 12

This week in the Lost Property Office I have an actual real life guest, so no talking to myself luckily. And even more luckily the guest is the inestimable Mark Sinker, writer about music, film and crisps as he has billed himself elsewhere (the excellent Silent London Podcast). We chew the fat on a number of items, whilst marvelling at the Pathos Of Spring, a CD which doesn’t quite live up to its billing. Mark is rather gready with his land grab from the office, but finds some fascinating objects (including what may be called CONTRABAND). On the way the conversation takes in green rubber monsters, the kind of mould a wallet picks up in the countryside, Chinese Faxes, the migration of the Pashtun, murder mysteries, and whatever happened to Kes (he died – SPOILERS).

As ever if you recognise the Pathos Of Spring, or any of the items discussed drop me a line in the comments below. And if you would like to join the growing band of Lost Properteers, feel free to let me know, I am always looking for interesting guests. For the comments just click “more”.

2May 12

This weeks Lost Property Office is the darkest yet, as sinister doings in Shoreditch are uncovered. Infact all doings in Shoreditch have the opportunity of being sinister, but we discover the potential infamy of this weeks guest, Cecily Nowell-Smith (aka Cis of this parish). Along the way people are lost, the science of cosmetics is discussed, fossils remain lost in the hinterland of North London and we go Car Booting. If its good enough for Flog It!!! its good enough for us. Music this week comes from the magic folder, and Northern China (it is a SOAS Lost Property Office) and we discover the secret to all good historians research methodology. Could we ever have a cycling monarchy in the UK, and is that because they can’t ride a bike. All this inanity and more.

As ever available here, and on iTunes, and if you have anything to say please feel free to say so after the break. Particularly if you know more than us about the Uigar people and their music (though its got to be said, this is one of the best music selections for some time).

16May 12

After last weeks unfortunate unplanned hiatus, we are back, back, back with a thoughtful contemplative episode which stretches the format to the edges of acceptability. Along the way we discuss the stupid naming of stations on the Chicago subway, if “finding £20 in the street” is a satisfactory story for even the most banal of radio shows, how to make a flump, the joys of soft furnishings and Bath Moles is yet again name checked. Music comes from the big floppy folder (people just don’t lost mp3 players any more), and an artist whose name is either really Niel Armstrong, or the person who wrote on the CD can’t spell Neil. In English at least.

Oh, the guest is “Carsmile” Steve Hewitt of FreakyTrigger. And I took all the swears out of the rapping so your kids can listen to it and everything (unless they listen to the show backwards in a Dark Side Of The Moon way in which case the only legible words will be the swears. Perhaps worth doing?

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